bureau of land management

In 2008 a young environmental activist named Tim DeChristopher bid on 13 parcels of land quietly put up for auction by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the waning days of the Bush Administration. This land was part of a larger offering by the BLM of federal public land in an attempt to open it up to oil and gas exploration. The majority of the land was near national parks in southern Utah.

By PAUL FOY – February 4 2009 – SALT LAKE CITY In a high-profile reversal of the Bush administration, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said Wednesday the government is scrapping the lease of 77 parcels of federal land for oil and gas drilling in Utah’s redrock country. “In the last weeks in office, the Bush administration…

WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2009 (ENS) – At least 110,000 acres of pristine Utah wilderness is temporarily protected from oil and gas companies due to a ruling Saturday night by a federal judge in a case brought by conservationists. Judge Ricardo Urbina of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted a temporary…

Democracy is working. At least that’s the news for now from my friends at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which has filed a lawsuit against last-minute Bush Administration plans to lease huge swaths of majestic wilderness in Utah for oil and gas extraction. Late last night, NRDC and a coalition of environmental and preservation groups…

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, December 19, 2008 (ENS) – Today, in front of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Salt Lake City, more than 100 demonstrators braved the wind and cold hoping their protest could save some of Utah’s prime wilderness lands from destruction for oil and gas development. Inside, the BLM was auctioning…

You can’t put a price on silence or solitude. You can’t quantify the beauty of wilderness. And yet that’s not going to stop the Bush administration from trying to sell off what should be the birthright of future generations. In three days, this Friday, 110,000 acres of majestic Utah wild lands go on the auction…

WASHINGTON, DC, November 18, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration finalized regulations to govern the commercial development of oil shale on federal lands on Monday, rebuffing concerns that the rules are premature and ignoring the serious environmental concerns about tapping the resource. Administration officials said investors keen to unlock the nation’s vast oil shale resources…

WASHINGTON, DC, November 7, 2008 (ENS) – Part of the $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial system rushed into law in October will go to local governments to compensate for taxes that could not be levied on federal lands in their jurisdictions. The local governments provide services such as transportation, firefighting and emergency response…

RENO, Nevada, July 10, 2008 (ENS) – Count the wild horse of the American West as another potential casualty of spiraling energy prices. The federal Bureau of Land Management, which oversees management of wild horses and burros on public lands, said sharply rising energy costs are driving budget problems that compel the agency to consider…

SAN FRANCISCO, California, June 29, 2008 (ENS) – The Atlantic Richfield Company, ARCO, has been ordered to reimburse the federal government $2.77 million for work already performed to clean up abandoned wastes from the Anaconda copper mine that are contaminating air and water in central Nevada. The order issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency…

WASHINGTON, DC, June 27, 2008 (ENS) – The federal government is calling a halt to new applications for solar power developments on public land in six western states while the 125 applications now in the pipeline are evaluated. The evaluation of both current and future applications will depend on the results of an environmental impact…

WASHINGTON, DC, May 20, 2008 (ENS) – In a plan released Friday, the Bureau of Land Management, BLM, announced that it will make land available for leasing in the northeast portion of the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska that could yield nearly three billion barrels of oil. The planned leases could yield trillions of cubic…

WASHINGTON, DC, May 1, 2008 (ENS) – The Bush administration on Wednesday announced its intent to shoot down federal rules that prohibit individuals from carrying loaded firearms in U.S. national parks and wildlife refuges. The proposal would permit individuals to carry loaded and concealed weapons if permitted by state laws in the state where the…

HOLLISTER, California, May 1, 2008 (ENS) – People enjoying recreational activities at the Clear Creek Management Area in central California may not realize it but they are exposing themselves to high levels of asbestos in the soil, which increases their risk of developing cancer. Based on the findings of a new study of asbestos exposure…

DENVER, Colorado, March 14, 2008 (ENS) – In a lawsuit that could serve as a national test case to interpret the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule, a coalition of conservation groups is challenging approval of a natural gas pipeline that would require construction of more than eight miles of new roads in protected roadless areas.…

BOULDER, Colorado, February 15, 2008 (ENS) – By noticing when plants bud, flower and leaf out, volunteers can track climate change as part of a nationwide initiative starting Friday. Project BudBurst allows students, gardeners, and other citizen scientists in every state to enter their observations into an online database that will give researchers a detailed…

SACRAMENTO, California, January 2, 2008 (ENS) – Two islands in the Sacramento River owned by the federal government have been closed to filing of new mining claims and are proposed to be withdrawn from the general land laws and transferred from the Bureau of Land Management to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Todd Island…

CRESCENT VALLEY, Nevada, December 6, 2007 (ENS) – The 32nd Annual American Indian Film Festival presented Western Shoshone grandmother Carrie Dann with the Eagle Spirit award for best overall contribution in American Indian cinema at an awards ceremony November 27. “Our Land, Our Life,” the film that shows the Western Shoshonesí determined struggle to maintain…